Trash lobster
This issue:
Portsmouth CiP update
Climate Action Plans: managing expectations
News
Events
But first, a question for you: what should we cover in this newsletter? There’s a poll below, or you can use the comment feature (or email) to share your thoughts.
Climate action plans: when?
Portsmouth is getting a Climate Action Plan. How long will the process take, and when will we have the final plan? We took a look at how it went for neighboring communities.
York has a CAP. It took about a year. Goal: cut emissions by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
Durham is working on a plan, and it looks like a 3-year process. Kudos Durham for publishing their progress. Goal: cut emissions by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. (More on Durham in a moment).
Kittery has been working on a CAP since at least August 2021. We can’t find any progress updates, although they might be buried in PDF minutes.
Portsmouth has put out an RFP for a CAP. There isn’t yet a Climate Action Plan homepage on the City website, and we haven’t seen any updates. Will the CAP be done before the end of 2023?
Rye, Hampton, Seabrook: sweet FA. Goal: put head in sand, wait for waters to rise.
Durham is one to watch
Durham’s CAP page has a nice summary page that makes their progress and process transparent. Check out the May 2022 presentation.
Aside: this slide jumped out at us.
“Large Crowd Events”? That sounds ominous. Are we talking protests? Climate riots? Here’s what the 2017 Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan has to say:
Super Bowl 2017: An estimated 3,000 people gathered in Durham to celebrate a Super Bowl victory by the New England Patriots, resulting in 15 arrests for criminal mischief related to the destruction of three parked vehicles.
…just regular sports rioting, not the breakdown of civil society. Although they are estimating loses up to $70m from sports rampages.
This does make one wonder: when will plans like these factor more of the human hazards of climate breakdown? For instance - refugee crises (from the Global South or even from Florida); food scarcity; civil unrest. Cheerful thoughts.
Portsmouth Capital Improvement Plan update
The request for Citizen Requests for the CiP closed at the end of the month. We submitted four ideas. We’ve heard there were more than 50 proposals in well before deadline, but we don’t know how much overlap there was.
Our proposals:
A “green corridor” of shade trees along popular sidewalks. Adding trees will improve urban cooling, make walking downtown more attractive on hot days, and improve air quality.
A solar array & battery storage, sufficient to match the amount of electricity used in our civic buildings. A big-ticket item, but one that should pay for itself.
Updating all City lights with the latest low-energy bulbs and smart timing software. After submitting this, we learned that Portsmouth is pretty much already there.
Widening sidewalks, reducing central parking, planting trees on Market St, Congress St. Aims include: improve the quality of downtown, especially for pedestrians; address accessibility issues (our narrow lumpy sidewalks suck for wheelchair & pushchair users); make Portsmouth a more credible “eco municipality” that people would like to visit.
News
Bill McKibben visited NH and shared some thoughts
Do you feel optimistic about our ability to make the kind of changes that are necessary to stave off the worst effects of climate change?
I feel like we’re starting to do some things that we should have done long ago. But I don’t feel like we’re doing them fast enough yet. I think the next couple of years will be really key. The federal government has finally spoken and for the first time passed a serious climate bill. And now its execution and implementation are the main things from this point on.
NH Trash Plan Update (NHPR)
The plan outlines how the state will reduce waste that goes into landfills and incinerators 25% by 2030 and 45% by 2050 – goals that are set in state law.
But!
New Hampshire has no materials recovery facilities where all single-stream recycling (think: blue boxes where aluminum cans, glass bottles, and cardboard all get mixed together) can go to be processed. Currently, all of that recycling goes to other states.
IRA for NH (Seacoast Online)
The Inflation Reduction Act would not only positively impact New Hampshire’s environment but also its economy, according to an analysis by BW Research commissioned by The Nature Conservancy.
The analysis found that the federal legislation would send $2.6 billion to New Hampshire, creating around 4,400 new jobs and generating $350.7 million in the local economy over 10 years. The bill would also help reduce emissions by 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
In other news:
Lobster shell disease & global warming link (Seacoast Online)
Events
The Dark Money Blocking Climate Action (Oct 13th)
Have you ever wondered why New Hampshire is so behind when it comes to climate action? Are you curious about the dark money interests funding climate denial at the state house.
Kicking Climate Deniers Out of Office (Oct 26th)
We're working to kick climate deniers out of office and elect champions who will fight for climate justice! Join us at the State House on October 26th at 3pm to check out our Halloween-themed art display and get out the vote action!
Utility Rate Hike Town Hall in Concord (Oct 27th)
“…we are looking for community members who can share their stories with attendees at the in-person event, via Zoom, or by sending a recording. If you are interested in sharing your story please email me by Friday October 14th.
We want to know your name, the town you live in, the utility company you pay, and the impact the utility rate hike has on your budget. Are you asking for state assistance to pay your bill? Did this cause you to switch to a different utility? Are you worried about the winter bills?”